Sarah Spickernell is an Online Writer at City A.M. She can be contacted at sarah.spickernell@cityam.com. She is particularly passionate about: Science, healthcare and technology

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The company first admitted to using the cheat technology last month (Source: Getty)

The knock-on impacts of the Volkswagen emissions scandal are potentially fatal, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

In the US alone, an estimated 60 people will die up to 20 years prematurely because of the extra toxic pollution that has already been released by the German carmaker's cheat engines.

In September, the company admitted it had fitted its diesel vehicles with software designed to dodge emissions tests. The vehicles were sold between 2008 and 2015, and around the world an estimated 11m cars are affected, including 482,000 in the US.

The report also predicts there will be an extra 31 cases of chronic bronchitis and 34 hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiac conditions as a result. Overall, the additional healthcare and social costs will amount to $450m in the US.

The report stresses the urgency with which VW must recall the vehicles, because if the cheat engines are still operating in the US by the end of 2016, they believe the death toll will rise to 200.

The investigation looked solely at health impacts in the US, but they shed light on the dangers faced by everyone else in the world – there are an estimated 1.2m affected vehicles in the UK, which is more than double the US's number.